Information is just coming to light now about an incident aboard the Hibernia platform that happened May 12th and which could have been fatal and which could have resulted in an explosion and fire.

It was 11:00 in the morning when crews were preparing to load crude to a tanker. Excessive noise and vibration was noticed on level 7 of the utility shaft, followed by the detection of gas. The source of the noise and vibration was determined to be the sludge pump, eventually resulting in the release of almost 1600 litres of crude. The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Energy Regulator says the crude was contained within the platform.

The board says nobody was injured and none of the crude ended up in the sea.

The board is looking for additional information from Hibernia Management and Development Company as it reviews the incident.